Visolis, led by Deepak Dugar, is revolutionizing producing procedures to lower greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing microorganisms to ferment biomass waste, producing a carbon-negative molecular block for numerous items. The business has numerous items, is making millions in revenue, and is set to scale up operations, with sustainable air travel fuel being next in line for approval.
Visolis, founded by Deepak Dugar, is working to decarbonize the production of everything from rubber to jet fuel.
Minimizing our dependence on fossil fuels is going to need a change in the way we make things. Thats because the hydrocarbons found in fuels like unrefined oil, gas, and coal are likewise in everyday products like plastics, clothing, and cosmetics.
Now Visolis, established by Deepak Dugar MIT SM 11, MBA 13, PhD 13, is integrating synthetic biology with chemical catalysis to reinvent the way the world makes things– and minimizing gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
The company– which utilizes a microbe to ferment biomass waste like wood chips and produce a molecular foundation called mevalonic acid– is more sustainably producing whatever from vehicle tires and cosmetics to air travel fuels by tweaking the chemical processes included to make different byproducts.
The start-up Visolis, established by MIT alumnus Deepak Dugar, is utilizing artificial biology to decarbonize the production of whatever from jet fuel to rubber to skin care. Credit: Courtesy of Visolis
” We began with [the rubber part] isoprene as the main molecule we produce [from mevalonic acid], however weve broadened our platform with this special combination of chemistry and biology that allows us to decarbonize multiple supply chains extremely rapidly and effectively,” Dugar describes. “Imagine carbon-negative yoga trousers. We can make that occur. Tires can be carbon-negative, personal care can lower its footprint– and were currently selling into personal care. In everything from personal care to apparel to industrial products, our platform is allowing decarbonization of production.”
” Carbon-negative” is a term Dugar utilizes a lot. Visolis has currently partnered with some of the worlds biggest consumers of isoprene, a precursor to rubber, and now Dugar wishes to show out the businesss process in other emissions-intensive markets.
” Our procedure is carbon-negative due to the fact that plants are taking CO2 from the air, and we take that plant matter and procedure it into something structural, like artificial rubber, which is used for things like roof, tires, and other applications,” Dugar explains. “Generally speaking, many of that material at the end of its life gets recycled, for instance to tarmac or roadway, or, worst-case situation, it ends up in a land fill, so the CO2 that was captured by the plant matter stays captured in the products. That means our production can be carbon-negative depending upon the emissions of the production procedure. That allows us to not only decrease climate modification however begin reversing it. That was an insight I had about 10 years back at MIT.”
Finding a course
For his PhD, Dugar explored the economics of utilizing microorganisms to make high-octane gas ingredients. He likewise took classes at the MIT Sloan School of Management on sustainability and entrepreneurship, including the particularly prominent course 15.366 (Climate and Energy Ventures). The experience influenced him to begin a business.
” I wished to deal with something that might have the biggest climate impact, and that was replacing petroleum,” Dugar states. “It was about changing petroleum not simply as a fuel however as a material. Everything from the clothes we use to the furnishings we sit on is often used petroleum.”
By examining current advances in artificial biology and making some computations from very first principles, Dugar decided that a microbial technique to cleaning up the production of rubber was feasible. He took part in the MIT Clean Energy Prize and worked with others at MIT to show out the idea. It was still simply a concept. After graduation, he took a consulting task at a large company, investing his weekends and nights leasing laboratory area to continue trying to make his sustainable rubber a truth.
After 18 months, by using engineering principles like design-for-scale to artificial biology, Dugar had the ability to establish a microbe that fulfilled 80 percent of his requirements for making an intermediate molecule called mevalonic acid. From there, he developed a chemical catalysis process that converted mevalonic acid to isoprene, the main part of natural rubber. Visolis has actually since patented other chemical conversion procedures that turn mevalonic acid to aviation fuel, polymers, and fabrics.
Dugar left his consulting job in 2014 and was granted a fellowship to work on Visolis full-time at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab through Activate, an incubator empowering researchers to transform the world.
From rubber to jet fuels
Today, in addition to isoprene, Visolis is offering skin care products through the brand name Ameva Bio, which produces mevalonic acid-based creams by recycling plant byproducts produced in other processes. The company offers refillable bottles and even offsets emissions from the shipping of its items.
” We are working throughout the supply chain,” Dugar says. “It made sense to clean up the isoprene part of the rubber supply chain rather than the whole supply chain.
Visolis is likewise beginning the procedure of acquiring regulative approval for its sustainable aviation fuel, which Dugar believes might have the greatest environment effect of any of the companys items by tidying up the production of fuels for industrial flight.
” Were working with leading business to help them decarbonize aviation,” Dugar says. In our process, we take plant matter, which attaches to CO2 and captures eco-friendly energy in those bonds, and then we transfer that into aviation fuel plus things like artificial rubber, yoga trousers, and other things that continue to hold the carbon.
Visolis is already creating millions of dollars in revenue, and Dugar states his objective is to scale the company rapidly now that its platform particle has been validated.
” We have been scaling our innovation by 10 times every 2 to 3 years and are now wanting to increase release of our technology at the very same pace, which is extremely exciting.” Dugar states. “If you theorize that, really quickly you get to massive effect. Thats our goal.”
” Our process is carbon-negative because plants are taking CO2 from the air, and we take that plant matter and procedure it into something structural, like synthetic rubber, which is used for things like roof, tires, and other applications,” Dugar discusses. For his PhD, Dugar checked out the economics of using microorganisms to make high-octane gas ingredients. By examining recent advances in synthetic biology and making some computations from very first concepts, Dugar decided that a microbial approach to cleaning up the production of rubber was viable. After 18 months, by applying engineering ideas like design-for-scale to synthetic biology, Dugar was able to establish a microorganism that fulfilled 80 percent of his criteria for making an intermediate particle called mevalonic acid.” Were working with leading companies to help them decarbonize aviation,” Dugar says.